On May 31st, 2012 the Maxwell family boarded a plane and moved to Swaziland to live at Project Canaan. I hope to update my blog on Saturday mornings and share, as honestly as I can, the highs and lows of our life in Africa. We are living on a farm in a remote part of this tiny Kingdom and are serving the community as well as the orphans and vulnerable children of the nation. The 365 day count down started on June 1st, 2011, but the real journey begins now. Thanks for joining us.

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Saturday, November 30, 2013

This week has been a time of giving thanks.We are thankful for our family, our
friends, good food, good fellowship and all the other blessings that we have
received.I could write all day
long the things I am thankful for, but I will focus on just one today - having a
spare room at the Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz (which means New Beginning Communal
Living) on Project Canaan.

There have been many times that I have been asked whether we
would consider opening a home for unwed/pregnant mothers?The thinking is that even if the girl
is raped and is pregnant from that rape she might want to keep the baby after
its born rather than giving it away (or throwing it away).It was a good thought and was the
germ of the idea for the Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz to be built.

This week I was called about a 17-year old girl who has been
badly abused (sexually, emotionally, physically) since she was 8-years
old.She is now 5-months pregnant
after a multiple rape and does not want the baby. She has tried to commit
suicide on several occasions and has tried to abort the baby twice.Her attempts were not successful.

The girl was discovered by a group of kind women
specifically helping young pregnant girls in need.They offer counseling and some assistance while the girl
gives birth and then they do some counseling after to help the young mother
with motherhood.When this girl
told her long and terrible story to the counselor she called in the senior
leadership to help. The girl was then taken to the Social Welfare Office to get
assistance, both for the baby who was unwanted, and also for the girl who was
in fear for her life and desperately wants to go back to school after the baby
comes.She will be 18-years old at
that time and is just now going into Grade 6.

I was called and asked to come and hear the girl’s story and
then pray about how we could help, and so I went.For two hours this young girl told me the story of her life
from the age of eight until she was 14.Due to time restraints she had to jump from age 14 to 17 quickly to tell
me how she became pregnant.There
were several times that I wanted her to stop because I didn’t want to hear
anymore.There were times that I
put my hand over my eyes to hide my disgust or pain.She is a brave girl and we wanted to help.

The good news was that we have two empty rooms still at the
Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz and the next step would be for me to discuss her
situation with the four women who already live there to see if they were
willing to open their new home to a girl in desperate need.I went straight back to Project Canaan
and called a meeting.I explained a
small part of the story, which I was told and all of the women together said,
“She must come here.We can help
her.”I almost cried.I was so proud of them.Offering to bring in a 17-year old
stranger, who comes with mountains of baggage, was the greatest gift that they
could give.I asked what would be
needed and they said that they would scrub the floor of room #1 and we would
just need to bring a bed, sheets, blankets and a towel (all of which we had in
storage).It was done. The young
girl would come and live here.It
was that simple.So here is the
plan.

She will arrive in about an hour from now. Her room is ready
and there is food for her to eat. She will start work on Monday morning making
jewelry at the Khutsala Artisans Shop.Her due date is February 3rd and her plan is to stay with us
until after she has healed from childbirth. We have agreed to take the child to
El ROI if and only if that is her desire when the child comes (right now she
wants nothing to do with the baby conceived by rape).She wants to go back to school, but realizes that she would
have to wait until January 2015, and she will be almost 19-years old entering
Grade 6, but maybe she will love living here and want to stay. Maybe she will
love being taught a skill and working alongside other wonderful women who have been chosen to come here.Maybe
she will find hope and love in the safe haven called Project Canaan.

We don’t know what the future holds for this young girl, but
we know that tonight she will sleep well, maybe for the first time in nine
years.We know that she will be
loved and that she will know that Jesus loves her so much that He has brought
her here to us.Interestingly, she
has already named her unborn child – he/she will be given the name “Innocent”
as the girl sees the child as the innocent outcome of her own tragic life.I see the child as part of God’s
perfect and Holy plan – none of which we can even begin to understand.

Today I give thanks for the people who gave so generously to
build the Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz so that this week we could say, “yes”!

I also give thanks to the anonymous donor who has put
forward a $100,000 year end giving match so that every dollar that you give to
our Year End Campaign will be matched to double its work.As you give thanks for all that you
have I ask that you consider making a Year End gift to us at Heart for Africa
on this link. Thank you.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

I had a really great week.On Tuesday I celebrated my 50th birthday
surrounded by friends and family (I even got to have a GREAT Skype call with
Spencer in the US and Chloe in Taiwan!).We hosted the “big kids” from the toddler home as well as “Baby Debs”
(on Ian’s invitation), Rachel and Leah (Nomsa’s twins – see
wednesdayswithnomsa.blogspot.com) and all the Aunties who care for the 46
children living at Project Canaan.It is hard for me to grasp that I share my actual birthday with Rachel
and Leah and that one-year ago after they were born they almost died in a mud
hut while their mother lay dying next to them.

The day of celebration included eating cake, chasing
chickens, petting baby goats and enjoying a great view with amazing people.I had a great day.

The next day is what today’s blog is about.It is my day with Nomsa.

My personal “what do you want to do on your birthday Janine”
desire was to go and visit Nomsa at the TB Hospital and then bring her out to
see Project Canaan. She has been diagnosed with XDR-TB (Extremely Drug
Resistant Tuberculosis) and is infectious so she lives in an isolation room, by
herself, at the hospital.She has
no TV or radio, no way to communicate with the outside world, no family to
visit her and she has been really really sick.We didn’t know if she would make it this time, but after six
weeks she has rallied like the phoenix and is at least able to walk a little
bit again.She is very thin and
gets weak easily, but she is still taking her meds and she is very much alive
so we have not given up hope yet!

On Wednesday Lori Marschall, Ralph Glass and I started out on
our all day journey. It’s about a 75-minute drive each way to and from the
hospital, so that meant 75 minutes to go pick her up, 75 minutes to drive back
to the farm, 75 minutes back to go back the hospital and 75 minutes to drive back
to the farm.We had to borrow a
truck with an open back because Nomsa can’t ride inside a vehicle without
running the chance of infecting us.So Lori rode in the back of the truck on an old cushion and off we
went.

Nomsa was beyond excited to be getting out of the hospital
on a day pass, out in to the fresh air to spend a few hours with people who are
not sick.She enjoyed chatting
with Lori, looking at the beauty of nature and getting Fanta Orange and potato
chips that Ralph picked up.

When we arrived at the farm she turned around and faced the
front of the truck so that she could see all there was to see.Lori was her tour guide as we slowly drove
past the El Rofi Medical clinic, Kufundza Carpentry Center, and down through
the fields of green beans.We
visited the new dairy milk building, saw dozens of baby goats playing and
stopped to taste our Moringa leaves.It was like taking a child to Disney World for the first time. She was
in awe of the beauty of the people and the farm.Each time she was introduced, she was greeted warmly and
welcomed by all.Of course she had
to keep her mask on at all times AND stay three feet away from everyone, but it
was okay. We did our best not to make her feel like she had leprosy, even
though the disease she carries is deadly to all in its path, especially to
those who are HIV positive.

Then we went to the Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz where we are
building her a separate room.We
have talked about it for a year, but I am not sure that she ever believed me
when I told her we were building her a home. She knows that she can’t come and
live there until she is “sputum negative”, and she knows that it will take a
miraculous act of God for her to actually become “sputum negative”, but that
didn’t matter on Wednesday. That was her new home and we all believe in faith
together that she will live there one day, soon.

From there we went to the El Roi Baby Home to see Nomsa’s
twin girls, whom she has not seen since they were tiny newborns.I have taken baby photos to her at the
hospital, but to see her see the babies in person was not something that I was
prepared for.She couldn't hold
them, she kept her mask on and her body at a safe distance, but there they were
in front of her… beautiful, plump, happy, healthy and alive.It was a miracle.

I wept.Actually totally lost it and struggled when I looked at Helen who was
also visibly shaken.What total
joy and sadness all at the same moment.Auntie Shongwe and Helen held the babies and played with them while
Nomsa sat and watched, and cried.After some time and it was time for the babies to go and have their nap
Nomsa looked at me, pulled her mask down and mouthed the words, “thank you.”

We got back in the truck and I cried all the way to the TB
Hospital and only was able to pull it together long enough to stop and buy her
KFC (to make the day perfect), groceries, toiletries, and a few treats.Thank you again to everyone who gives
money to my Compassion Purse so that I have extra funds to do things like that
(and even to pay for the gas in the vehicle).We walked her up the stairs slowly, walked past sick, dying
and naked women rolling around on the floor in delirium and put her things in
her isolation room.

I cried all the way home and can’t write this blog with dry
cheeks. I am so overwhelmed with
gratitude that I would be the “lucky one” to be called to do this work.I can’t imagine doing anything else.

I had the best birthday.

Thank you to everyone who made my day special. The Heart for
Africa “50th Birthday Campaign” raised $55,000+!Thanks to your generosity we can
purchase 138 more chickens (for chicken coops at the toddler home and the
Kibbutz), 17 more goats, a cow, 25 packs of diapers, 23 tins of formula, 99
BIRTHDAY CAKES (!),4 bee hives, a
HUGE playset for the kids AND we have most of the funds needed to start
building the foundation for the next children’s home (when the toddlers outgrow
their current home).And on top of
it all, my Compassion Purse has been refilled and I can continue to help people
in need when the need arises.

Live from Swaziland … thank you.

Janine

PS – if you didn’t see the video of our Toddlers singing
“Happy Birthday” to me, please click on this link. It is only 14 seconds, but
it will bring you joy.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

This weekend my wonderful husband of 22 years has whisked me
away to the Island of Mauritius to celebrate my 50th birthday (November 19th) with
some great friends, Ralph Glass, Mark Klee and Janice & Roy Johnson.I have
struggled with the feelings of guilt being in this beautiful paradise (4.5 hour
flight east of Johannesburg in the middle of the Indian Ocean) and no doubt,
some will judge us for going away for these few days, even though we have paid
for this personally. But I am giving thanks for His provision and love and
choose to enjoy this time of rest and fun.

Mark, Ian, Janine, Roy, Janice Ralph.

I think that my friends would say, “Janine, take the weekend
off!You don't need to write a
blog today!”So to you friends, I thank you. I won’t
write a blog today, I will just post a few photos and ask you to celebrate with me as I head in to another
decade.

It is hard to believe that 1,533 people read my blog post
last week.Thank you for reading
it and for sharing it with others to help with awareness of what we are dealing
with in Swaziland.I was imagining
if everyone who read it last week would give only $6 (the cost of a chicken) to
my “birthday wish list” we could raise $4,599 to directly help the children
living at Project Canaan.Would
you consider giving $6.00 US today?Or more?Thanks for
considering it.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Yesterday Thabile and I had an appointment in Mankayane and
left the farm early to make the 90-minute journey.On our way we saw a newspaper headline which read, “Inmate
gives birth, attempts to kill her baby”.I pointed at it and asked Thabile if she had seen that and she said yes,
and she had heard it on the news the night before.I was shocked by the headline, but drove on.When we finished our meeting, we stopped
and bought a newspaper then headed home. “Coincidentally” the woman’s prison
was right on our way, meaning we LITERALLY had to drive past it to get back,
and I felt prompted to stop by the prison and ask how the baby was doing.

We have a very good relationship with the leadership at the
prison so I sent a text message and put in a call.We also contacted Social Welfare and the police to make sure
it was okay with all the stakeholders that we check on the baby.They all said, “YES!Stop in and we will meet you
there.”So we did.

We checked in at the front gate and walked down to the
highly secured building and waited to be called by the head of the prison.After a short time we were escorted up
to her office and walked past a sad looking woman holding a baby.We knew instantly who she was.

After greetings were made and formalities complete the girl
was asked to come in and sit on the floor. I took the baby from her and started
to unwrap all the blankets to see what lay beneath.When I finally got to the baby I saw a plump (3.6 KG or 7.9
LB) baby girl with lots of hair. She was/is beautiful.I looked to the mother and asked her
what happened.Here is what we
learned.

The mother is 27-years old and has a 14-month old child. She
is very poor and the father of the child has gone off leaving her with no
support.She stole R800 ($80 US)
from an old Grandmother and was arrested.She was charged with theft and given the choice of paying a R1,000 ($100
US) fine or go to prison for one year.She had no money so had to choose the prison sentence. She and her
14-month old child went to prison on October 26th.On October 28th she
started treatment for HIV (although we learned that she had known before her
first child was born that she was positive, but didn’t want to start
treatment).

She did not mention to anyone at the prison that she was
pregnant, and for some reason, no one noticed.

Early on the morning of November 7th the mother
had stomach pains and diarrhea and stayed behind in her room at breakfast
time.She claims that she didn’t
know she was pregnant (her story changed a lot over several hours), but
suddenly a baby came out. She knew she was not allowed to have two babies in
prison and the father of the new baby didn’t even know she was pregnant so she
decided to kill the child.

She didn’t have anything sharp to cut the umbilical cord so
she torn it off with her bare hands, leaving the placenta deep inside her.She put her hands around the baby’s
tiny throat and squeezed to stop her from breathing, leaving deep fingernail
marks on the baby’s tender skin.Once the baby stopped breathing, the mother put her in the bottom of a
trash bin and then piled garbage on top of her hoping that when the trash was
emptied the baby would be done and no one would know.

The mother started to bleed profusely and another inmate
came to check on her and found the pool of blood. They screamed for help and a
nurse and several officers came running.The nurse immediately thought that the woman had tried to abort a child,
but the mother said it was not true. Slowly the bleeding mother walked over to
the trash bin and started pulling the garbage off the baby.She reached down and pulled the newborn
out by her foot.The baby was grey
by this time.

The nurse and the officers were shocked and immediately went
in to action. I am told that the nurse started CPR immediately and the officers
around stood and prayed out loud. I can only imagine what the sound of their
cries was like.After a time, the
baby took a deep breath and her heart started to beat again.(No doubt the angel that was protecting
her also took a deep breath too!)The nurse brought this newborn back to life and then they rushed the
baby and mother off to the hospital.The mother was hemorrhaging badly and was in and out of consciousness.The doctors were able to remove the
placenta and the mother stabilized quickly.By the next morning, the day we were there, both mother and
child had returned to the prison.

So there we sat. We listened to her story as it was slowly
and painfully pulled out of her.She seemed totally detached from the baby and from what was happening
around her.I couldn’t begin to
put myself in her shoes. She had just delivered a 7.9 LB baby (BIG) by herself,
killed her child, almost bled to death and 24-hours later is sitting on the
floor talking to us.Surreal.

Thabile and I took turns holding the precious baby and
praying over her, but she started to cry and wanted to eat.The prison officials suggested that the
mother nurse the baby, but because the mother is HIV positive we wanted to
discourage that in case the child was going to come to El Roi where she would
continue with bottle-feeding.We
didn’t want to chance passing HIV to the baby through breast milk if this was
going to be a “one time” feeding (the mother did breast feed during the night
and the baby has been put on Nivirapine as a HIV prevention method – we will
have her tested in six weeks).But
we had nothing else to give her.The nurse scoured to find a bottle and formula and finally found both,
but could not find a nipple for the bottle.The baby started to cry more.

I think this is my favorite part of the whole story.

I always carry a diaper bag in my car complete with bottles,
formula, diapers, wipes and clothes. I just never know when I am going to get a
call to pick up a baby.But this
time, I was in Ian’s car because mine was in the shop so my usually “prepared”
items were not in the back.As the
baby’s cries got louder and started to think. I said to Thabile, “You know, if
we had known that we were picking up a baby today we would have packed a diaper
bag right?”

She said, “Yes, we would have, but we didn’t know”.

I said, “Right, but obviously Jesus knew that we were going
to pick up a baby. I wonder if He packed a bag?We know that He cares about the small details. I wonder if
there is something in the back of Ian’s car?”

I handed the keys to Thabile and asked her to go check.That is not an easy thing to do because
we were inside the prison walls and she would have to get escorted back out
through security, take the long walk to the main road, pass that security and
go to my car parked on the highway.She didn't want to go because it was a long way, and a hassle, but she
was obedient and took the keys.(I
love that girl!). Twenty minutes later she walked back in the tiny room where
we were sitting and had a FULL diaper bag with her complete with bottles,
formula, diapers, wipes and clothes!Jesus packed a bag and it was in the back of Ian’s car.I later discovered that Ian had put it
there two weeks prior when he thought it was needed for a trip to get Baby Isaiah,
but Isaiah was not ready for pick up at that time, so it stayed in the car.I love my husband!

At that time we were all overwhelmed by God’s provision for
this little baby.Not only did He bring
her back to life, and then He had us right near the prison to drop in an check
on the baby, He also made sure that we had all the supplies we needed for this
little angel.And that is what we
have named her.Angel.

After four hours at the prison we were asked to take the
baby to the El Roi Baby Home. The mother will be charged with attempted murder
and her time in prison will be extended.I don’t know whether to feel pity for her or anger.I guess I feel both.

We have received four newborn babies in the past week.We welcome Mary, Isaiah, Glory and now
Angel.We thank all of the people
who give to Heart for Africa on a monthly basis because without you, we could
not continue to say “yes” when a baby needs a home.We pray that funding will come in for these four soon.

Thanks for reading and praying.

Live from Swaziland … we have 45 babies living at Project
Canaan.

PS - Now, for a bit of shameless self-promotion, my 50th
birthday on November 19th and my friends at Heart for Africa asked
me what I wanted for my birthday, then they put a “wish list” on the website.
All of my birthday wishes are for the babies at Project Canaan or the women at
the Kibbutz.Feel free to buy a
goat or a chicken or contribute to the next children’s home on Project Canaan
to help me celebrate!

Saturday, November 2, 2013

“Nothing in the world
is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have
never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a
great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”― Theodore
Roosevelt

In
the past few weeks/months we have seen babies diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and
others die after the disease weakens their immune system beyond repair. We have
seen people diagnosed with Multiple-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis and watched people
die from it.We have seen rape
cases, trafficking charges, and young girls having sex for food, just to
survive.We have watched storms destroy
property, waters flood our house and winds blow down large trees.

On
the flip side, we have seen children test NEGATIVE for HIV. We have seen babies
come back from the brink of death to new life at the El Roi Baby home. We
received a newborn abandoned baby girl last week and will receive another one
next week, who was left for dead in a pit latrine.We have seen storms miss buildings while the rain from the
storms water the crops and fill our dams.We have seen people brought to justice, young women
brought to safety and beauty come from ashes at the Sicalo Lesisha Kibbutz.

I
have been in Taiwan for the past two weeks and have loved seeing Chloe in her new
school and home environment. She is thriving. I have loved Skyping Spencer in
Georgia and hearing about his school, his company Cirque Freaks and just be
able to chit-chat about life and cats and stuff.He is thriving.Despite all of the trials and tribulations that we are going through, I
can see the hand of God in my children’s lives and in our lives and I stand in
awe at all that is happening around the world.

On
Thursday I was watching Chloe rehearse at her school play.Suddenly we experienced an earthquake
and it was jarring to say the least.At the same time Ian was emailing me photos of our house in Swaziland
that had been flooded by water.Not too long after, I got a text message from Ian, which read:

“ It was over 100 F degrees today, with the flood there is a very high
humidity in the house, another super storm just went through and took out the
electricity, oh ya, and a bunch of roof tiles. I'll let you know the extent of
the damage in the morning. (Both dogs are in the house). Payroll is tomorrow
and my computer battery is at 40%. Did I mention that I wouldn't trade this for
anything?I love living in Africa.
Missing you." - Ian

That
is from the guy who was NEVER going to Africa.That is from a guy who says there will not be electricity
for another couple of days in the bottom half of the country (!). That from the guy
who had to do payroll for 195 people by hand on Friday including counting bills and coins
then hand writing envelopes and pay slips). When I read his text message I wept, and gave
thanks.Only God can change the
human heart and truly have us give thanks during difficult times, while
protecting us from harm and giving us joy, all at the same time!

“Consider it a
sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You
know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its
true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its
work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”James 1:2-4